Introduction Summary and Analysis

This book is an exploration of, and commentary on, the decades-long history of the West's search for spiritual enlightenment in the teachings of Eastern religions and philosophies. As she comments on the relationship between faith and commerce in this particular set of circumstances, the author considers the tendency towards, and growth of, exploitation on both sides, particularly as manifest in the expanding practice of using spirituality as a commodity.

The author sums up the relationship between Western need and Eastern accommodation of that need by referring to two myths, one Eastern and one Western. The introduction concludes with a brief commentary on how karma "chains humans to the wheel of existence", and how "even the most materialistic Indian knows that wheeling and dealing in karma" is a dangerous and foolish practice.

The Eastern myth summarized by the author defines the dangers...